Next up we welcome Newcastle United to Selhurst Park so we asked fan of the Toon Army Jake Jackman for his views ahead of the game.
This weekend will be an important fixture for both sides.
Alan Pardew will be eager to beat us, while Steve McClaren will know a win over our former manager will go a long way to reducing the pressure on him.
Before the season started, I was optimistic for our chances of having a good year, as would be expected after spending upwards of £50m and having a new coaching staff come in. The latter was important for us as a club. We had Alan Pardew, John Carver, Steve Stone and Andy Woodman for a long time, and things got stale under them, with players regressing in ability. After Pardew’s start with Palace, as a fanbase, we have looked quite foolish for wanting him to leave our club, but he needed to go. Our failure to do well since his departure only highlights our inability to replace him effectively. It is not a sign that Alan Pardew was doing a good job, because he was not.
In the summer, I had my doubts over McClaren’s appointment, but grew more positive after hearing him speak about his plans for the coming season. Also the decision to bring in Ian Cathro as an assistant coach was seen as a masterstroke, with the Scotsman being tipped for big things in the game. However, now we are in November, the problems with McClaren are starting to emerge.
We appointed him after he went on a horrible run of results at Derby County, leading to them losing out on a play-off place. He brought a losing mentality into a club which already had one and that has really been a huge problem. There is no doubt about his qualities as a coach, but I am starting to feel that he lacks the ability to control a squad of Premier League players. The Premier League is different to the last time he managed in the division, with all the players being millionaires and having huge egos. McClaren is adjusting to that, but we cannot afford to let the settling in period last too much longer as we are being cut adrift and face yet another relegation battle.
We spent a lot of money in the summer with mixed success. Georginio Wijnaldum will have a wonderful career and has settled in superbly showing why he won Dutch player of the year over Memphis Depay. He is certainly a player who I expect will move on to bigger things sooner rather than later.
Chancel Mbemba has also been a great purchase adding pace and strength to our defence and has suffered due to the growing incompetence of Fabricio Coloccini. Up front, Aleksandar Mitrovic has caused headlines already for the wrong reasons, and needs to gain consistency to live up to his reputation as a goal scorer.
Florian Thauvin was the final big money signing and he has been the worst of the lot. He came with a reputation for creativity, but he lacks the physical ability to make an impact in the Premier League. Graham Carr was a huge advocate of signing the Frenchman and he is now facing criticism from supporters for his poor choices in terms of recruitment in the last few years.
Our season has been disappointing so far as we are currently facing another relegation battle. We have won just two matches and although we showed progress in October, our performances have regressed recently and we have been an utter embarrassment, especially against Leicester. That performance was worse than anything we have seen during the Pardew/Carver days and it has seen the pressure on McClaren rise significantly.
Newcastle have spent £50 million and by definition, we should be higher than we currently are in the league. I expect the club to spend again in January, and I do not think they will show as much faith in McClaren as we did with Pardew. If McClaren does leave in the coming weeks, we need to make sure the next appointment is the correct one, and with both Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes available, it would not be surprising to see Mike Ashley pull the trigger. If we lose our next two or three matches, it is difficult to see McClaren keeping his job.
Palace are emerging as a really good Premier League side, and although they have struggled recently, there is a lot of reasons to be positive about the club. Alan Pardew suits Palace more than he ever did at Newcastle and that is not meant as a disparaging remark. Some managers suit certain clubs and the environment at Palace is made for Alan Pardew.
He likes to play counter attacking football with quick wingers, which Palace have a lot of, it really is not surprising that he opted to move to Selhurst Park last season. The signing of Yohan Cabaye shows the owners intent of moving the club to the next level and hopefully that will continue with the added television revenue. Palace lack a quality striker and they need to address that in the window. Charlie Austin would be perfect for the club in my opinion.
Yohan Cabaye will be key for Palace this weekend and he will be keen to perform against his former club. Ironically, we need a player like the Frenchman as we lack creativity in the middle of the park. It is astonishing that we did not compete with Palace in the summer for his signature. We currently have Jack Colback and Cheick Tiote on the treatment table, making us very weak in midfield which could allow Cabaye to shine. That really would be excruciating viewing for all Newcastle fans.
For us, I think Georginio Wijnaldum will be the key player. When he plays well, so do Newcastle and the pressure on him this season is building already. Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic have showed signs of building a good partnership this season, but there are rumours that the latter will be dropped, which could mean a start for Papiss Cisse, who netted in this fixture last season.
I cannot see McClaren turning it around at Newcastle, purely due to the losing mentality that both he and the squad have from last season. We have seen the energy that Leicester have got from their excellent end to the season and the opposite is true for Newcastle.
There were signs of that being reversed with good performances against Manchester City (first half), Chelsea, Sunderland and Stoke without the results being there. However, we have been dominated by both Bournemouth and Leicester in recent weeks and it looks like all the progress has been reversed.
I expect Palace to return to winning ways against us and there could be a number of goals scored by the home side. It could even spell the end for McClaren, but it is impossible to predict what Mike Ashley will do.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 3-0 Newcastle
